TINU ODUGBEMI: Writing has always been part of me

Tinu Odugbemi is an experienced journalist, educationist and social enterprise manager. She is also the Executive Director, Head High International Organisation, an organisation that focuses on widows and women, orphans, and people living with HIV and AIDS. In this interview with Omolara Akintoye, she speaks on how her organisation has effectively transformed the lives of widows, her experience as a journalist, among others.

WAS journalism your initial career ambition?

No. Initially I wanted to be a doctor and you may wish to know that I passed all my sciences very well. But in my final year somebody came to give us (students) career talk in our school–Methodist Girls’ High School, Lagos. And the man spoke so much, and so very well about journalism; made reference to people like Julie Coker, Bimbo Oluyide even though these people were not really journalists; they were more like media women. His presentation was so fascinating and I fell in love with journalism. And I said to myself I must be a journalist. Mind you, I made Grade 1 with distinction in many subjects and I was a science student. I had distinction in Mathematics, Chemistry, while Physics and Biology were credits. When I told my father I was dropping medicine for journalism, he broke down; in fact, it was most tragic for him because in those days the parents of medical doctors and things like that were adored. So I opted for journalism and I had always written so well. And since I came into the media, God has taken me round all the aspects of the media.

Would you say you are fulfilled in your chosen career?

Oh sure! I’m fulfilled. I was once the Lagos State chapter chairperson of the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) from 1992 to 1996, a period of four years. And I got the British Chevening Scholarship or Fellowship as they call it while I was in journalism. Need I add that journalism took me to 17 countries of the world in 13 years, including United Kingdom and America.

Can you remember some of the tricks you played as a child?

Well, like helping to cover for your brothers.

How did you meet your husband?

I met him right in my house. He came as a friend to a friend of my brother’s. After my two elder sisters had left home, I was the only girl in our home with five boys. So the day he visited, my brother ordered me to get them food to eat and I did. Perhaps, the man didn’t like the way my brother spoke to me, so after they had finished eating, as I was clearing the plates, he decided to help me carry some to the kitchen and there he started chatting me up.

Incidentally, I told him I was about going into the university to study Mass Communication and he screamed that he was studying Mass Communication in the University of Lagos as well. And he offered to help me with some books I might need. We became friends; one thing led to the other and we finally ended up as husband and wife.

What kind of person would you say your husband is?

Oh! My husband is a very nice person, kind, caring and supportive; in fact he is the best any wife could have. I have learnt a lot from him in some virtues; he hardly gets angry; he is very patient. He has been very supportive.

How Head High International Organisation took off

For me, it was the need to look after my family; that was the major reason I left active journalism. At a point, I felt I needed more time to attend to my children at the ages they were. I travelled abroad for the British Chevening Scholarship administered by the British Council and I left my baby that was under one year old. Even though I gained much from the programme–the scholarship got, I met a lot of people, made friends and bagged a master degree– I missed my family so much.

I got back to Nigeria in December 1998 and in 1999 I was made a pastor among so many women in the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG. And in the zone where I was, I was the only woman chosen for ordination as a pastor.

And I went to seek the face of the Lord. God began to show me different things about each of them.

For example, He showed (me) that Naomi represents the older and childless widows who need support, and she found support in Ruth, and also told me that these widows need to get together. Ruth, on her own, represents the group of widows who are hardworking and by so doing, they would want to serve the Lord without distractions. About Orpah, the Lord told me that she represents the group of widows who are young and vulnerable if they were not properly guided. That was how I started Head High International Organisation, an organisation that champions and defends the cause of women, widows, orphans, children on the streets and People Living With or are affected by HIV and AIDS

So what I started then was a television programme, an independent production and a weekly programme called “Head High” (lifting heads that are bowed high) on NTA Channel 10.

Projects like this require a lot of money; how do you source for fund these past 17 years?

That is a big challenge. The society appears not to be responsive to the plight of widows, so we depend on God.

Success stories

Head High International has turned out at least over 300 women in different skills acquisition, many of their children have won scholarships and are now in the university. We have our social and skill centre where widows come together, we are presently renovating the centre. There are so many widows that before they joined us their heads were down but today I’m happy to tell you that their heads are raised up. This is to show that Head High is giving them a new life which is what gives me joy today. They are wonderful women who are very appreciative

Challenges

A lot. There are some of them that it is when they need to pay house rent that you see them, once you help them to pay, you don’t see them again until the following year. That is why we are planning to have a shelter for them so that if there is any of them that is ejected by their landlord, we can accommodate them for like three months while they look for another house. We want the three tiers of government to do much more for these widows as NGOs cannot do it alone. Thank God for Lagos State government that’s doing all it could to ensure that women and youth in the state are empowered.